Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority awarded $20,000 grant, will soon make major changes

BERKELEY COUNTY, W.Va (WDVM) — Computers and radios are just some of the electronics that should soon be accepted at the Grapevine Road Recycling Center in Martinsburg, in early 2020.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s, Covered Electronic Devices Recycling Grant Program awarded $20,000 to the Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority, which will allow them to accept electronics at their Martinsburg location.

Currently, the Berkeley County recycling program only accepts electronics in Inwood.

The county’s electronics recycling program first started in 2002. Since then, there has been over four million pounds of electronics collected in the Berkeley County Recycling Program, according to officials.

Authorities say the funds will be used to purchase four specialized open top containers and pay for transportation service of those containers for the first year.

“We’re thrilled to death to receive this funding,” said Clint Hogbin, Chairman of Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority. “It’s been a request of the public for years to accept electronics at the Grapevine Road Recycling Center.”

Hogbin says the grant is especially useful since the landfilling of most electronics is banned in the Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson Counties.

Authorities say since 2002, there has been over 4 million pounds of electronics collected in the Berkeley County recycling program.